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An individual was convicted on retrial of raping Gisele Pelicot after she was drugged unconscious by her husband – and has had his jail term raised to a decade.

Higher Court Case

Husamettin Dogan, 44, an unemployed builder, who had challenged his first conviction last year, faced a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A jury of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, ruled against Dogan on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her bedroom in southern France in the morning of 29 June 2019.

The evidence showed that the accused, a family man, made contact with the victim's then husband, Dominique Pelicot, in an internet forum called “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife after he had rendered her unconscious into a comatose state.

We trust the panel will say loud and clear that in this country, human rights are also rights of women – that consent is individual, not transferred,” said the victim's attorney, her legal representative. “Permission is received directly and not via a representative from a spouse.”

Background

The husband, one of the worst sex offenders in France's contemporary records, was handed a sentence to two decades in prison last year for incapacitating his spouse and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the community of the village of Mazan over a span of almost a decade of their union.

Fifty other men were found guilty in a widely publicized trial last year, and the appellant was the single defendant to appeal against his verdict. He was originally given a sentence to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The state's attorney, the prosecutor, had argued he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Courtroom Details

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot sexually explicit photos and then traveled an hour from his town in the region to rape the victim, after telling his wife he was leaving, the court heard.

Pelicot, who was transported from solitary confinement in prison to briefly provide testimony at the retrial, stated to the court that Dogan had been aware his wife had been “incapacitated” and he told to men by phone: “I want someone to violate my wife after I’ve rendered her unconscious unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a central issue for a broader debate on rape culture in society as the defendant continued to say he was not guilty and had not perpetrated assault, contending that because Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had welcomed him into the bedroom, his actions had been justifiable.

The jury in the higher court was displayed visual proof of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, unconscious and breathing heavily in a comatose state, while a grinning Dogan engaged in violation on several occasions over a timeframe of what police said was 3.5 hours. The court official said she had been at risk of fatal outcome by suffocation. The state's case said there was no doubt that she had been unaware and had not agreed.

Dogan's Claims

Dogan told the court the videos were simply “intimate moments” and disputed it was violation. He said what he did was “a consensual activity”, not assault. He stated the court: “I never raped.” He said Gisèle Pelicot’s husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was acceptable. He said he was influenced by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” Dogan told the court. “I continued because he reassured me.”

Inquired if he wanted to make a final statement to the court, Dogan said: “I did not intend to harm that woman.”

Survivor's Statement

Gisèle Pelicot, who was applauded upon departing the trial each day by onlookers assembled to support her, told Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When are you going to recognise you assaulted me? It is illegal to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? Never.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an symbol of resistance after she waived her right to privacy in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

State's Argument

Sie, addressing the victim in court, said the defendant's failure to take blame showed that: “Guilt has not shifted. The community is maybe in the process of that, perhaps propelled by the public consciousness resulting from the exposure of your ordeal.”

The prosecutor said the defendant's claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “gender-based power”. He said: “We need to change rape culture to a society based on agreement.”

The prosecutor addressed Dogan: “For as much as you refuse to admit it, it’s not just a individual, it’s an whole unpleasant social system that you are upholding.”

Defendant's Background

The accused was originated from the country of Turkey and at the age of 5 came to France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his father was violent and that Dogan began consuming marijuana at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was caught by authorities for dealing drugs and his parent kicked him out of home. He spent time in prison for drug dealing in his twenties and had worked as a builder but had faced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the main caregiver for, as his spouse worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his wife did not know he had repeated sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. Dogan had informed a evaluator that each year he sought paid sex on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis triggered by the anxiety of the initial proceedings.